Your Impact
Between supporting strikers at the Universal Studios Barham picket line and continuing our usual work with our Library and Archive, programs, and events, we’ve been busy here at the Writers Guild Foundation in this first half of 2023. Our donors make it possible for us to make the impact we do on the screenwriting community, so THANK YOU for supporting WGF! As a special thanks, here’s an update on how we’ve put your generosity into action so far this year.
at a glance
PROgRAMS
The application cycle for the Fall 2023 cohort of the Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program took place this spring. We received over 2,100 applications that are currently under review—just under two times as many applications we received last year.
This year, at least five WASSTP graduates have found work in support staff positions. Some alumni success stories from the first half of 2023 include:
Shanice Williamson was hired as a Script Coordinator on the new Bosch spin-off.
Yousif Nash secured a job as a Writers’ Assistant on Amazon’s The Greatest.
Two writers, Gia King and Ida Yazdi, were promoted from support staff positions to staff writer positions.
At the beginning of the strike, WASSTP alum Jess Morse began the Pizza Strike Fund, taking donations to buy and deliver pizzas to the picket lines. So far, Jess and her team have raised over $12,000 and delivered over 1,000 pizzas to hungry picketers.
The 2022-23 cycle of the Veterans Writing Project wrapped up in May at the pitch night event. 54 veterans pitched their work to 32 agents, managers, and showrunners in attendance at both Feature Night on May 23 and TV Night on May 24. Over 19 vets received requests for additional work from attendees.
The 2023-24 cycle of the Veterans Writing project kicked off June 24 and 25 at the Weekend Retreat. Sixty military veteran writers met their WGA member mentors at the New York Film Academy in Burbank for two days of workshops on craft, plus a screenwriting lecture by guest speaker Billy Ray (The Comey Rule, Captain Phillips).
Veterans Writing Project alumni also joined picketers at special veterans themed pickets at Universal Studios on May 25 and Warner Bros on June 9.
Veterans Writing Project participants, mentors, and volunteers at the 2023 Weekend Retreat
Veterans Writing Project alumni at the Universal Studios Vets Picket
The Visiting Writers Program facilitated five educational discussions between WGA writers and classrooms across the country so far this year. They include Terence Winter with University of the Arts Philadelphia; David Johnson-McGoldrick, Scott Beck, and Bryan Woods with Fitchburg State University; Grasie Mercedes with Sagrado University; and Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault with Emerson College.
WGF has continued its partnership with Get Lit, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that ignites student engagement, literacy, and young voices around the globe using the power of Spoken Word, technology, and community. Over the course of a year, WGF connected 10 WGA members with emerging screenwriters from poetic backgrounds. Guests included Monica Macer, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Steve Yockey, Raamla Mohamed, and more.
In February, we welcomed Travis Diffenderfer to the team as our new part-time Community Programs Coordinator. Travis previously supported WGF in a similar role in 2022 as part of the Department of Defense’s SkillBridge Program, which connects U.S. military service members with industry partners in real-world job experiences.
EVENTS
Anatomy of a Meet Cute: Writing Romantic Comedies panel
Our event programming is currently postponed in light of the WGA strike and in solidarity with the WGA. However, prior to the strike, we hosted six virtual events in 2023:
Zoom Workshop: Creating Maximum Visibility in the Industry
Zoom Workshop: The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback
Altogether, over 6,100 people RSVPed to attend these virtual events live, and the recordings for these events have more than 13,500 views so far on our YouTube channel.
Panelists from Beyond Words 2023
We also hosted one in-person event: Beyond Words 2023! This event was hosted at the Writers Guild Theater in February and highlighted the 2023 Writers Guild Award screenplay nominees with back-to-back Adapted Screenplay and Original Screenplay panels. Beyond Words 2023 was a sold-out show with 613 tickets reserved. The recording can be viewed here.
In June, we were a programming partner for the Hollywood Climate Summit, an annual multi-day conference that creates a community space for thousands of cross-sector entertainment and media professionals to take action on climate. Programming included panels on climate advocacy in screenwriting, pitch events, and networking receptions.
Also in June, we celebrated the return of WGF Trivia with a Trivia Day themed picket at the NBCU Barham picket line. Fourteen teams battled it out on the line for three (plus a bonus!) rounds of challenging film and TV trivia. Congrats to The Professors for taking first place, Green Devils for coming in second, and Do The Write Thing for bringing home third! More trivia days are planned for the second half of the year.
LIBRARY
Our library is currently closed in light of the WGA strike so WGF staff can help manage a check-in booth at the Universal Studios Barham picket line. However, prior to the strike, we had 1,475 visitors to the Library who requested to read over 1,000 scripts. The most popular Library reads of 2023 so far are Better Call Saul, Abbott Elementary, and Everything Everywhere All At Once.
We’ve added almost 700 items to the Library catalog so far this year. This brings the total number of items in our collection to 46,632. That’s a lot of stuff!
There are a lot of scripts in our collection and it would be impossible to fit everything on our shelves. Taking advantage of the library being closed, our librarians completed a massive collection management project, sending nearly 400 less frequently requested feature screenplays to off-site storage, making room for new script acquisitions. (The scripts sent to storage are still available to read upon request).
WGF Library Script Breakdown with Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Our Librarians hosted WGF Library Script Breakdown with Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. The Daniels later went on to win the WGA award and the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Our Library team has also added more resources to the blog, including two more “Formatting Your Spec Script” posts covering 12 TV shows’ script formatting and a brand-new blog series called “Movies & Lyrics” that discusses the influence of screenwriters on musicians and songwriters by taking known songs and examining how a particular turn of phrase or thematic element was inspired by a film’s screenplay.
Despite the library’s closure, the team has still managed to give 10 library tours this year, including to a group of writers from the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. In April, we also hosted a second grade class from Hancock Park Elementary and did a workshop on story development.
ARchive
So far in 2023, we’ve processed 7 archival collections totaling 38 boxes of writers’ scripts and papers. We’ve also hosted three interns in the archive who have helped our Archivist make sense of all the paper!
WGF Librarian Lauren and WGF Archivist Hilary attend the Skirball exhibit “Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare”
On April 19, we hosted a book signing with author Jon Krampner to celebrate his book, Ernest Lehman: The Sweet Smell of Success. Jon used the WGF Archive extensively while researching Ernest for this biography.
The Archive has also loaned some of our materials to the Skirball Cultural Center for their exhibit “Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare”. This exhibit explores the history and impact of the Hollywood Red Scare and its contemporary implications for civil liberties, propaganda, and shifting definitions of American patriotism. Be sure to visit soon—the exhibit is on view through September 3!
strike!
The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May 2, 2023, and we here at the Foundation have been doing all we can to support…including running the check-in tent at Universal Studios Gate 8 (at the intersection of Barham and Forest Lawn)!
At the Universal Studios Barham picket line, we’ve seen themed pickets like the return of WGF Trivia and a Marvel TV day, cast and crew reunions of shows like Hacks and Superstore, and lots of fun signs. If you’re looking for a place to picket that isn’t too crowded but still super fun, come picket with us!
All statistics as of June 30, 2023. To see the 2022 Impact Report, click here.